Black Eyed Susan
by whelmedwithaster
Summary: Artemis has always been there for Dick as he always has been for her. No matter what happens, this will never change. Ever. Mentions of character death.


**A/N - Traught broship because I am digging these two recently - hello new OTP!**

**Beta'd by Allypallycally1 cus she's a babe**

**Black Eyed Susan**

* * *

Heat radiated from her body. He snuggled himself further into her side, fitting his face into the crook of her long neck. She smelt like a mixture of peanut M&M's and Powerade. It was nice. Whilst he inhaled unsteady breaths, cherishing the comforting scent, the girl wound her arms around his shoulders in a bid to share her body heat. Maybe it'd help dry the tears.

Thick, blonde hair splayed out over the pillows and covered his face like a curtain. He was hidden and no demonic light could sear through the hair and force him to face reality. No one was able to tear through the hair and see his moment of vulnerability; of weakness.

Except for her.

Nuzzling further into the girl's neck, the boy gripped the front of her dark blue T-shirt. His knuckles began to turn a deathly white. Gently, she took a hold of his hand and laced his fingers with her own, stroking swirls and silent stories of nothingness onto the back of his hand with her thumb. The black nail polish shone in the dull light of the bedside lamp despite being chipped and chewed. His eyelids flickered closed, his eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings. The boy exhaled through his nose heavily in an almost sigh, causing the girl to crack open a grey eye to observe him. Her grip on his fingers tightened slightly.

"Artemis..." It was barely a whisper and if the boy's mouth wasn't situated directly beside her ear, she wouldn't have heard the breathy croak.

Artemis turned her entire body to lay on her side to face the boy. Her golden hair was pulled away from him and instead settled like a halo around her tanned face. Snaking bare arms around his back, Artemis tugged the smaller boy towards her and pulled him into her chest with the end result of a bone crushing hug. The girl often forgot that, since training with the team, her strength had increased massively and she was reminded of this when a muffled "oomf" caused her to release her hold on the boy. His face was still squashed into the blonde's breast but neither of them minded - his breathing had slowed to a soothing rhythm. Her mouth twitched into a small smile but her eyes refused to crinkle at the edges. She was sad. Maybe it was because he was sad too.

* * *

_Screams echoed in the empty hallways. The voices rung out, enveloping the mansion with tension and anger room by room. Small feet stomped, following the heavier footsteps in a bid of confusion and persuasion before stopping abruptly. Dick crashed into Bruce, his forehead making contact with the middle of the man's shoulder blades._

_The acrobat muffled out an angry cry as he shuffled backwards and regained his posture. Narrowing his azure eyes, Dick poked his bottom lip out in a subconscious pout. He straightened up his back and crossed his arms, not once allowing his eyes to stray._

_"Richard." Bruce's voice boomed in the otherwise silent building. It was cold and unnerving but the boy stood his ground, despite the subtle warning from his adoptive father's tone._

_"Bruce." Dick replied. His voice was cold and eventually, the Bat turned around. He looked downwards to make eye contact and was met with the bird glare: a feeble attempt of a bat glare from the younger, which only worked on the team of teenagers. In any other situation, Bruce would silently note how adorable Dick's impersonation truly was: narrowed but still large, cerulean orbs, outlined by thick eyelashes stared up at him whilst a small pink mouth set itself into a pout. Not scary. Not in the slightest. However, today Bruce was certainly not in the mood for this confrontation. If there ever was a mood for it._

_He'd had a bad week which had kept him ridiculously busy and not to mention exhausted. Wayne Enterprises had experienced an economic downfall due to a flood in the consumer techno branch. Yes. A flood had caused mass destruction and this was down to a worker not doing his job properly, thus Wayne had to invest in fixing the problem by replacing everything. It had caused quite a setback to say the least and the man responsible was swiftly fired: no questions asked._

_Not to mention, an uprising had commenced in Arkham Asylum and Belle Reve Penitentiary. At the. Same. Bloody. Time. So by the time both places had been restored to their usual state and Wayne Enterprises had forked out an enormous sum of money that Bruce didn't want to dwell on too much, it was safe to say that the Bat was ready to rest._

_Oh, and that's when he found he had gained another rival company as well as the fact that his adoptive son was completely and utterly furious at him for numerous reasons._

_He just wanted to sleep._

_Due to just being met with an unreasonable and uncooperative fourteen year old boy, Bruce growled lowly before turning on his heel to march into his bedroom. Naturally, Dick was having absolutely none of this. So, the Bird skidded to stand in between the doorway and his father, casting a long shadow and blocking the source of light into the darkened room. The azure glare never faltered once._

_Instead of rolling his sapphire eyes at the acrobat's stubbornness like he usually would, Bruce narrowed them. Lines crinkled his forehead as he drew thick, dark eyebrows together to form a triangle shape with a wrinkle as a base (given a different situation, Dick would have snorted before cascading the Bat into a fit of giggles.) Bruce's temper had been lit on a short fuse that week. Each event which had occurred had only caused the fuse to burn out bit by bit and unfortunately, Dick had to experience the explosion._

* * *

Heaving out a shuddering breath, a sob caught in her throat as she attempted to prevent it's escape. Although, a few seconds later, she choked it out in a coughing fit. She shrieked out in frustration and slammed her fists, so tight they were turning a deathly white, into the double mattress.

Tears tumbled down her red cheeks like massive, messy raindrops; her voice bellowed like thunder; her black, chipped nails scratched thin, white lines onto her tanned skin like lightning bolts. He yanked her hands away and gathered the young woman into his arms, cradling her with one hand as she curled up into his lap. The other hand stroked her tangled hair. Each time his finger caught onto a knot, he would pick it apart and twirl it around his index finger, wishing her body would stop heaving heavy sobs and violently tremble atop his crossed legs.

After what seemed to be an hour, the girl's breathing slowed and the man wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He gently leaned backwards to lie down before rolling the blonde off his body so they could lie side by side. Stunned, sapphire eyes observed the woman: the way her chest rose before thundering downwards as she spat out unwelcome sobs; the way she gritted her teeth after every sign of weakness; the way a lone tear journeyed down a tanned path, disappearing under the woman's jaw forever.

"Dick..." Ashen eyes shone as they stared up at him through damp eyelashes where small tears dangled from. They clouded her vision but her eyes remained still, staring at the acrobat. He attempted a small smile, stopping instantly when it didn't reach anywhere but his mouth.

He didn't want to fake it. She had seen his genuine grin too many times.

The woman's fist twisted into the green fabric of his shirt as her face crumpled. Dick pressed his lips to her head, feeling the blonde strands caress his chapped lips. Delicately, he planted a kiss. The man slowly pulled his face away to watch the kiss grow and spread across the blonde's head, replacing all painful memories with foolish, joyful ones. Dick observed the kiss as it cascaded down her body, removing her of all the physical pain she had inflicted upon herself. Finally, he stared in shock as it sunk deep into her skin and relieved her of the emotional pain; it relieved her of the beasts gnawing on her insides; it relieved her of the heartache.

* * *

_A scratchy whistle and electric explosions crashed into her eardrums. Artemis used her arm to shield her eyes from the wind: twisting and writhing against the vicious screech as it sunk its teeth into her flesh, aided by the hail of splintered ice like shrapnel. Tears streamed from her grey eyes and flew in front of her, dissolving in the icy blast of air as it attempted to drag the archer closer to the twister._

_Gritting her teeth, Artemis focused on the swirl of colours before her. A mixture of icy blue, red, grey and yellow flashed before her eyes in a haze, but she kept them glued onto the canary blur. The other colours didn't register in her mind. Yellow was the only colour that mattered._

_The more time that passed, the more she could identity of the bright blur as it began to resemble a figure. A figure which cried out, piercing her eardrums, as an electric blue streak smashed into his back. As he stumbled, the woman felt herself lurch forward just to be grabbed painfully and pulled back again by the arm. Despite the suddenness, the woman still couldn't tear her eyes away from the slowing figure._

_Kid Flash attempted to increase his velocity once again. The buzz in his ears shrieked as the passing figures of Flash and Impulse circled him again and again and again. Dizziness erupted within him as black dots spotted his vision. Any other time the humiliation and nausea would cause him to whine but instead he pressed on. He couldn't afford to slow down this time: the fate of the world depended on it._

_"C'mon Wallman..." He muttered under his breath before an electric shock struck him like a whip again._

_Artemis tried to bolt forward but the grip on her bicep only tightened. She knew it was Dick who had a hold on her and for the first time in forever, she didn't want _his_ comforting touch. She wanted Wally's. She wanted Wally's muscled arms cocooned around her, opposed to Dick's slightly slimmer and gangly arms. She wanted Wally's body pressed tightly against hers in an awkward cuddle, opposed to Dick's in a more understanding embrace. She wanted to feel Wally's warm breath, opposed to Dick's cold, minty breath, against her ear, causing her blonde hair to stand on end._

_She _needed _Wally._

_The Flash and Impulse ran beside him, yelling their support and pleas to battle on. They had reduced to begging; screaming desperately that he could fight this, that he could survive this mission. Wally shook his head slowly, observing his transparent hand._

_Kid Flash chuckled bitterly. "Aw man. Artemis is gonna kill me..." He never thought that he, Wally West, would be the one who could save he world. Sure, he was a superhero but he was just a helper. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that he'd actually give his life to save everyone else's. Not that he minds. It just never occurred to him that his life would become the be all end to the human race._

_"KID!"_

_A final bolt attacked the man, ceasing his existence._

* * *

Their fingers were laced together in a tangle. She guided her weight onto her left foot, leaning slightly into the taller man beside her. He stood straight, casting his eyes downwards.

The sky was littered with clouds, lazily observing the inhabitants of Gotham city. A light blue peeked through the gaps and a quiet buzz from the blissfully ignorant Gothamites drifted towards Wayne Manor, falling upon deaf ears as they stood in front of six gravestones. A Zinnia flower accompanied by a Black Eyed Susan stood against each stone, overlooking the surrounding area, presenting the importance each grave had.

After a short while, the woman tightened her grip on the man's hand, causing him to tear his blue eyes away from the floor and to focus on her grey ones instead.

"You okay?" She asked. He nodded. Minutes of silence passed before he tugged on her arm slightly. Turning her head, she quizzically raised her eyebrow. When he didn't acknowledge her acknowledgement, she tugged his arm but this time with a lot more force than he had used.

"You're really aggressive, you know that?" In response, the woman shrugged. The man chuckled and in doing so, a slight cackle made an appearance. "Hey, Artemis."

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

She blinked and opened her mouth before shutting it again, promptly. "Um...I love you too, Dick."

"You're my best friend." Dick was not fazed in the slightest by the uncharacteristic emotional honesty. Usually it was something they didn't do - Dick had grown up with Batman who 'has the communication capabilities of an eraser', quoting the acrobat. Artemis had been raised by a villainous family, in which deception was a positive trait, apparently.

"I know."

"And...I've always got you. No matter what." Artemis raised her eyebrow again, fully turning her body to face his dead on. He remained still. "I mean. I'm not going anywhere and if I do...end up going somewhere, I mean. I'll always come back or you'll come with me. Because I'm here for you and I always have been."

She smiled at him softly. "I know. I've got you too." The archer squeezed the acrobat's hand. Flicking his eyes to look at her face, he grinned. She mimicked his smile and this time, her eyes crinkled at the edges.


End file.
